1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel that can improve the structure of dummy partition walls disposed in a non-display region, prevent looseness of an outer end by providing a frit having a large width, and supply and exhaust a discharge gas while reducing noise.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a plasma display panel (PDP) is a device in which vacuum ultraviolet rays emitted through gas discharge generated in discharge cells excite phosphors to realize images. The plasma display panel is a next-generation thin display device because it can have a high resolution and a large screen.
In the plasma display panel, a discharge cell is partitioned by partition walls formed in a stripe-shaped or lattice-shaped pattern between a front substrate and a rear substrate. The partition walls are formed in the discharge cells constituting a display region that substantially realizes an image and a portion of a non-display region surrounding the display region, and provides dummy cells that stabilize discharge of outermost discharge cells of the display region. The partition walls forming such dummy cells are referred to as dummy partition walls.
The front substrate and the rear substrate are attached to each other by a frit interposed therebetween, and the frit is spaced apart from the dummy partition walls at a distance that can be significant enough to generate a resonance space, which causes noise of the panel.
If the frit having a large width is used in order to reduce the resonance space, the frit may enter an exhaust tube and contaminate the panel. On the other hand, if only the partition walls are expanded in order to reduce the resonance space, the partition walls may reduce the supply and exhaust of the discharge gas and thereby reduce the panel's luminance.
The above-described partition walls are made by forming a partition wall layer with partition wall paste; patterning the partition wall layer using a sandblast method, a press method, and an etching method using photosensitive materials; and firing the patterned partition walls at a high temperature of more than 450° C. The partition walls are fired in order to remove impurities, binders, and the like contained in a partition wall material, and make the partition walls harder.
When firing the partition walls, all vehicle components existing in the partition wall paste are evaporated, and main components constituting the partition walls are contracted by coupling with one another.
In this case, if the lattice structure of the partition walls of the plasma display panel is rectangular, as shown in FIG. 12, tension occurs along a longitudinal side of the partition walls 110 when the partition walls are fired, and thus the partition walls are bent (see portions indicated by circles).
Also, since the balance of force is not uniformly maintained at the outermost end of the partition walls, the partition wall is lifted inward when firing and thus looseness occurs. Thus, the outermost end rises out of other portions. As a result, as shown in FIG. 13, a gap is generated between a front substrate 100 and the partition walls 110 (see a portion indicated by a circle). This gap causes noise due to a vibration when the panel is driven.